Tension device



June 7, 1949. J. A. PONS 2,472,614

I TENSION DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1948 i s Sheets-Sheet 2 Gla Joy/v Po/vs,

Arrow/[x June 7, 1949.- J. A. PONS 2,472,614

TENS IN DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1948 v s Shets-Sheet 3 Patented June 7, 1949 UNITED STATES PATNT OFFICE TENSION DEVICE John A. 'Pons, Morganton, N. (3., assignor to Greensboro Textile Supply Company, Greensboro, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina Application January 26, 1948, Serial No. 4,449

2 Claims. :1

This invention relates to tension means for a knitting machine and more especially to a tension means which will clamp the yarn when it is not being fed to the needles and when the yarn is thrown out of opera'tion,"the clamping means will be allowed to engage the thread and clamp the same to prevent gradual loosening of the tension in the'thread when not in use.

In circular knitting machines there are usually several yarn feed fingers which feed different types of yarn to different parts of the stocking during its formation. When one or more yarn feed fingers are in operation, other yarn feed fingers are raised and'thrown to inoperative position and the vibration of the machine usually causes a slackenin of the yarn which is not being knitted.

It is an object of "this invention to provide clamping means whichwillbe rendered inoperative while the yarn'is being knitted and when the yarn feed fingeris 'thrownto inoperative ,position the clamping means will be allowed to clamp the yarn and prevent a slackening of the tension in the yarn while not being used.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l isan elevation, partly in section, of a portion of a circular knitting machine showing my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a view similar to the upper portion of Figure 1 but showing a'yarn fed finger which is equipped with the clamping 'means raised to inoperative position and showing the "strand clamped;

Figure '3 is an elevation on an enlarged scale and taken along the line 3-3 in Figure '1;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of a portion of a circular knitting machine and being taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 2 but showing the tension disks in elevation and not in section;

Figure 6 is a view mostly in elevation and partly in section with parts broken away and taken along the line 5-6 in Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a sectional plan view taken alon the line 1-1 in Figure 1 and showing the clamping means not in section and in non-clamping position;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6 and taken along the line 8-8 in Figure 7.

Referrin more specifically to the drawings, the numeral It indicates the needles of a circular knitting machine whichr-hasrsinkers ll associated therewith The knitting machine alsohas a sinkerguide ring 42 and a plurality oi push rods l3 and a frame l4 having uprising ears l5 and It in which is mounted aabolt H surrounded by a sheet metal member 18 having'a slot 20 therein in which is hooked one 'end of tension springs '2 I the'other ends of the tension springs being secured to yarn feed fingers 22 oscillatably mounted on a transverse pin 23 disposed in uprising portions 25 and. '25.

The yarn feed fingers have substantially vertically disposed holes?! in one end thereof through which strands ofyarn 28-are passed to be fed to the needles-when the yarn feedfingers are in lowered position such as the nearest one in Figure 1.

The strands 28 are passed through suitable eyes 39 in a plate t! secured by a screw -or screws 32 to a transverse bridge portion :34 connecting the tops of uprising members 25 and 2 6. The yarn feed fingers 2-2 have backwardly projecting portions 22a with whicha portion of the invention is associated. A knitting machine of this type usually has a-suitable star-shaped member having spokes 4% extending therefrom with members 4! for receiving cones of yarn C and the strands '23 are fed from these comes 0 through suitable eyes 42 and 43 mounted on a member 44 which is also supported by an upright shaft secured on the machine and which is 31'10'0 shown. a

It is with this type of mechanism that I provide one or more'clamping members for clamping a yarn when not in ioperation vand only one of these clamping means is shown but it is under-- stood that others could be employed, that is one for each-of the yarn feed-fingers 22. This clamping mechanism comprises a .plate secured by means of screws 5| to the horizontal portion .3'4 bridging the gap between the tops of members 25 and 25. This plate 50 has a right angular portion 53 in which the lower end oi plunger 54 is slidably mounted. The plate 50 also has a right angular portion 55 at its upper end in which the plunger 54 is also slidably mounted. There is disposed around the plunger 54 and immediately below the right angular portion 55 a compression spring 55 which has its lower end disposed against a collar 5'5 adjustably secured on the plunger 54 by means of a set screw 58. Secured to the vertical surface of plate 50, by a screw 49, is an angle clip 52 which also has a right angular portion 59 to which is secured, by means of a screw 6|], a bracket 6! which projects upwardly and horizontally into a leg Bla. The lower portion of bracket 8| has an adjustment slot 62 therein through which the screw 60 passes.

Secured in the upright leg of bracket 6| is a bolt 64 by any suitable means such as nuts 65 and 66. This bolt 64 has loosely mounted thereon a pair of tension disks 61 and 68. The bolt 64 has a collar 69 fixed thereon for limiting movement of disk 6'! to the left in Figure 3. Disposed around the bolt 64 is a compression spring 10 which has one end fitting against the tension disk 68 and has its other end fitting against a knurled nut 72 which is adjusted in position by means of a knurled lock nut 13, both of which are threadably mounted on the right-hand end of bolt 64 as viewed in Figure 3. The horizontal leg 61a has an eyelet through which the strand of yarn 28 passes on its way from the cone C to one of the yarn feed fingers 22.

The lower end of the plunger 54 is adapted to rest against the rearwardly projecting portion 22a of the yarn feed finger 22 except when the yarn feed finger 22 is in inoperative position at which time the lower end of the plunger 54 might not engage the portion 22a on account of its downward movement being checked by the position of the collar 51 on the plunger 54.

The upper end of the plunger 54 has a pointed portion 54a which, when the yarn fed finger is in raised position, will not be disposed between the tension disks 61 and 68 because the spring 56 will push the plunger 54 downwardly to where the collar 51 will rest on the right angular portion 53, but when the yarn feed finger 22 is thrown into operative position, then its rearwardly projecting portion 22a will engage the lower end of the plunger 54 and raise itself to the position shown in Figures 3 and 8 to enter between the tension disks 61 and 68 and force them apart to thereby cause the tension disks 6! and 68 to fail to clamp the strand of yarn 28 so that it can move unimpeded from the cone C through the yarn feed finger and to the knitting needles, and when the yarn feed finger with which the invention is associated is raised to inoperative position, as the rear finger in Figure 1, then the plunger 54 will be moved downwardly by the spring 56 and the pointed portion 54a will be moved downwardly and will occupy the position shown in Figures 5 and 6 to thus cause the tension disks 6! and 68 to clamp the strand of yarn 2B and prevent its being payed ofi from the yarn cone C due to the vibration of the machine.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not :for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a knitting machine having a pivoted yarn feed finger for feeding yarn to the needles of the knitting machine, a pair of tension disks normally moved toward each other and through which the yarn passes, a plunger having a pointed upper portion adapted to pass between the disks and having a lower portion adapted to be engaged by the end of the yarn feed finger remote from the end which feeds the yarn to the needles, so that upon the yarn feed finger being moved to operative position, the plunger will be moved upwardly to cause its pointed portion to pass between the tension disks to remove any clamping effect on the yarn passing therebetween and when the yarn feed finger is moved to inoperative position the plunger will move downwardly from between the disks to cause the disks to clamp the yarn.

2. In a knitting machine having needles and a plurality of yarn feed fingers pivoted intermediate their ends for feeding yarn to the needles and having a feed eye at one end through which the yarn passes to the needles, said knitting machine having suitable push rods therein for raising the yarn feed fingers, a pair of tension disks mounted above the yarn feed finger and having a plunger provided with a pointed upper end for passing between the tension disks and having a lower end for engaging the end of the yarn feed finger remote from the feed end thereof, tension means for normally urging the plunger downwardly to cause it to follow the remote end of the yarn feed finger, moving of the yarn feed finger to operative position causing the plunger to be raised so that its pointed end will pass between the tension disks to remove any clamping effect from the yarn and movement of the yarn feed finger to inoperative position allowing the tension means on the plunger to force the plunger downwardly to where its pointed end will not be disposed between the tension means and thus allowing the tension means to clamp the yarn while the yarn feed finger is in inoperative or non-feeding position.

JOHN A. PONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,093,362 Swinglehurst Apr. 14, 1914 1,240,250 Peters Sept. 18, 1917 1,666,794 Scott et a1. Apr. 17, 1928 1,688,791 Rimell Oct. 23, 1928 1,825,089 Pratt Sept. 29, 1931 

